Break Away
by Xenophili
Summary: Allen is being held at a 'facility' that doesn't technically exist. He knows nothing of the outside world, but as he starts to regain lost memories, dark things come to light regarding himself and the people he used to be able to trust. *Laven*
1. The Beginning

"Hey, Lavi"

"What's wrong, Allen?"

The two of them were standing in front of large oak double-doors that had designs of nature like trees and flowers carved into every inch of it. It stood out like a sore thumb touching the bleach white walls and floor of the inside of the building. It stretched all the way up to the high ceiling. Allen was staring at the heavily locked door handles. They were made of pure steel. Guards stood at either side of it, occasionally glancing at the pair standing in front of them.

"Nothing. It's just, have you ever wondered what the out side's like?

"..."

"Lavi?" Allen questioned from the lack of a response. Frowning, he turned his attention from the door over to his red-headed friend.

He was taller and older than Allen, and he had a black eye patch over his right eye. No matter how much Allen had asked him about it, Lavi would never tell him why he wore it.

Lavi himself was looking at the door, frowning to himself as if trying to come up with the best answer for Allen. Finally, he answered in an almost whisper, still focusing on the door,

"You'll see the outside someday, Allen."

***

Allen woke with a start.

The obnoxiously loud alarm clock going off like a siren blaring right in his ear. Slightly irritated, he hit the top of it with his palm to turn it off and looked at the time.

It was nine in the morning. The same time he woke up every morning. Normally, he would've gotten up just like it was any other day, however, it was not. When he threw the covers off of his body, a sudden chill hit him like a slap in the face. This made him rethink getting up too quickly as he pulled his sheets back around his body. He slipped his white slippers on and moved over to his closet to change into something warmer than his night clothes.

When he opened his closet, all of his clothes in there were black. These were the day clothes. Night clothes were white. The day clothes had been changed to winter clothes now that it was nearing the end of November. The shirt sleeves were long. Too long for Allen, and when he put it on they hung over his hands and he constantly had to pull them up. It was much warmer than his night clothes, though.

Finally finished dressing, Allen looked into the mirror next to his closet. He sighed as he looked at his reflection with very tired eyes.

_It's still there_ he whispered to himself in dismay. The shadow was still there. Not his shadow, it was another one. One that hung behind him all the time. It's been there for as long a he could remember being at this place.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he would wake up with his left eye searing with pain and somebody would be talking to him in his mind. He lifted his left hand and gingerly touched the star-shaped scar on his head but staring at his red hand. He always thought it was the shadow behind him talking to him at night. Always smiling, like he was laughing.

He let his hand limply fall to his side again and looked away from the mirror, not wanting to look at it anymore. He grabbed his black gloves from on top of his newly made bed and walked out his bedroom door.

While making his way through the winding corridors to the cafeteria, his red-headed friend popped out of nowhere behind Allen, placing his hand on his head and ruffling his silky-white hair.

"Yo, Allen!"

"Wha-? Jeez stop that, Lavi!" Allen said obviously annoyed. He never really liked it when people touched his hair. It made him feel short.

"Aww, what's wrong? You're grumpy today" Lavi asked retracting his hand and placing them both carelessly behind his head.

Allen looked down to his feet and focused on them for a while before glancing at Lavi's and back again. He finally said "Nothing" in a not-so confident voice.

"Hmm, really?" Lavi said, keeping his eyes on Allen and examining every twitch and fidget like it held the keys to the world. But he knew already the thing that must have been bothering him.

"Allen" he said in a more serious tone, making Allen pick his head up some in surprise, but still refusing to look at Lavi.

"If it's that thing again, you have to go talk to him."

"Um, no, th-that's not it. I had just, remembered something this morning."

"What was it?" Lavi asked, still focusing on Allen as if he was the most fascinating thing he's ever laid his eyes on. Taking in every movement and taking a mental note of the suspicious ones.

"Do you remember that day a while ago when we were at the front doors and I was talking to you about going outside?" Allen said suddenly looking up to meet Lavi's stare.

Surprised by the sudden question, he looked away and just stuttered an answer "Y-yeah, why?"

"That's what I dreamed about last night "Allen replied in a lower voice. "And well, I wanted to ask you if..." he trailed off, not knowing whether he should really ask this or not.

They turned a corner and moved down the corridor to go down the stairs to where the cafeteria was on the first floor.

"Huh? I couldn't hear you."

"Lavi...Have you ever been outside?"

He stopped.

Lavi, at the top of the stairs, while Allen had moved down a few more before he noticed he was by himself. He looked back up to the top of the steps. Lavi was standing there staring at him completely dumbfounded by the unexpected question. His left arm fell down to his side where he nervously fiddled with his belt. He looked away from Allen, frowning but smiling at the same time while rubbing the back of his neck.

"What are you saying, Allen? Of course not."

"Then does that mean you've been here your whole life?"

"No. That's not, I mean-"

"Then you've been outside, right?"

'No, I haven't."

"But you haven't been here your whole life have you?'

"Of course I have. Look, it's just a little complicated, my situation here. So just relax with the questions for now, alright?"

Lavi said, walking down the steps and passed Allen patting him on his head on the way by.

"I'm going to the cafeteria, I'm starved" Lavi said rubbing his stomach and continuing on his way and waving a hand behind him at Allen.

Seeming to snap back to reality all of a sudden, Allen stumbled down the rest of the stairs and tried to catch up to Lavi.

"Hey, wait up! Don't leave me like that."

***

Lavi couldn't do it. It was too hard to lie to Allen's face. While looking directly at him, anyways. His face was so innocent, that something like telling him a little white lie seemed like the worst sin you could ever commit. It was like lying to the face of an angel, and Allen seemed so pained and hurt at the time, the truth was almost forced right out of Lavi. He wanted to tell Allen everything, but knew if he did that would be the end of both of them and he was hardly able to skin by with what he had told him.

"I have to be more careful from now on."


	2. The Facility

_I was so happy that people like my first chapter that I decided to go ahead and upload the second one the very next day. I just hope it meets up to everyone's standards._

_**___________________________________________________________________**_

**-The Facility-**

Allen was still thinking about what him and Lavi were talking about in the corridors when they entered the cafeteria. He immediately snapped out of his train of thought as the aromas of Jerry the chef's cooking started dancing in and around his nose. His stomach growled unnecessarily loud. He suddenly felt like eating everything in sight, but retained himself and stood in line to order his share of food.

When it was his turn he was greeted almost too enthusiastically by Jerry.

"Oh! My sweet dear Allen~! So?? What shall it be today, hmm?" he said, coming dangerously close to Allen's face over the counter, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Good morning, Jerry. I'll have the second half of the menu today." he said very cheerily.

"Extra-large?" Jerry questioned.

"Extra-Extra large. Jerry."

"Coming right up!" He said, skipping away to the depth's of the kitchen only to appear minutes later with everything that had been ordered.

"Here ya go!"

"Thanks for doing this every time, Jerry."

"But of course~My pleasure! Take care now, Allen-kun!"

Allen walked away from the counter carefully balancing all of his food in his arms while looking for a vacant table.

Seeing as his vision was slightly obstructed by the mountain of food right in front of him, he didn't see the only one person sitting at the table he decided to settle on, and the reason for it to be so deserted.

"What do you think you're doing?" A cold voice came from beside Allen.

He stopped suddenly from devouring the mountain of food in front of him to look over to the source of the voice.

It was Kanda Yuu. Also older than Allen, but the same age as Lavi, he was easily the most intimidating 'patient' in the whole building. Everyone else in the building, save a few people, were afraid to approach him, mush less eat at the same table as him. However, Allen seemed unfazed by being in his company.

"Good morning to you too, Kanda." Allen said to him, ignoring his earlier remark.

Kanda was about to say something back when Lavi appeared with his breakfast coming to join them at the same table.

"Oh! Good morning, Yuu-chan! Fancy seeing you here at this time."

Kanda glared at him at the mention of his Christian name.

"I told you not to call me that, stupid rabbit!" and was about to throw a punch across the table before wincing in pain and thinking that wasn't the best thing to do at the time. Lavi didn't miss this twitch, but stayed silent about it. Instead, he turned to Allen to comment on the amount of food he was eating today.

"You never cease to amaze me, Allen."

Allen seized shoveling food into his mouth to look up at Lavi before putting a great amount of effort into swallowing what was already in his mouth.

"I still don't understand why I need to eat so much just to get full." he questioned himself.

"53" Lavi said automatically.

"Huh?" Allen said, confused with why Lavi would mention such a random number.

"53, You have said that line 53 times. Questioning why you need to eat so much" he said in a bored monotonous tone. He took a bite of his own food before directing his attention back to Kanda, who he noticed was having trouble eating his soba.

"Yuu-chan, what's wrong? You're eating with the wrong hand." Lavi said, actually sounding a bit concerned.

Kanda stopped all of a sudden, too surprised by Lavi noticing that he was eating with his opposite hand to notice he had used his Christian name to address him again. But all he said was "Che" in return.

Allen also stopped to look even more closely at Kanda. Lavi was right. Even though Kanda was ambidextrous, like Allen also was, he ever only ate with his left hand. He didn't do well with chopsticks in his right hand. It irritated him to no extent whenever he had to. So obviously something had to have been wrong.

"Hey, Yuu, what's wrong with your left hand?" Lavi asked, more seriously now.

Kanda wouldn't look at him. He wasn't eating anymore either. Now seeing as Allen had the better vantage point by sitting next to Kanda, he was going to try his luck and see if he could catch a glimpse of his hand.

"It's all bandaged up" Allen said aloud to no one in particular.

Lavi's eyes narrowed, as he started staring at Kanda, who looked even more uncomfortable with each passing moment.

"What did they do this time?" Lavi blurted out all of a sudden.

"Nothing" was Kanda's immediate and automatic answer.

"It was more tests again, wasn't it?" Allen said, obviously concerned and frightened. "What was it for?"

"Che. Like I'd tell you." Kanda replied, getting up from the table swiftly to excuse himself before he disappeared outside the cafeteria doors.

These were one of those times where Allen had flashbacks of all the times he had been tested and experimented on at this 'facility' he was not allowed to leave.

All of a sudden, he didn't feel too hungry anymore. He set down his eating utensils and just stared t his hands in his lap before Lavi called him back to reality.

"Allen, you're not going to eat anymore?"

Allen just shook his head. Lavi sighed, before giving up eating any of his own food and standing up from the table.

"Come on, it's about time you have to go and see him anyways. Let's go before your shadow shows up again."

Allen's head snapped up at the mention of a 'shadow' where Lavi had noticed his mistake a little too soon.

"Er, sorry. I meant your little follower, Link, You know? He's bound to show up any minute and drag you off for your routine morning check-up."

Allen was one of the more 'valuable' patients in the facility. He was also one to cause trouble. Suddenly disappearing inside the building when it was time for tests or shots. Not showing for check-ups, and sabotaging tests set up for other patients. This is why he was assigned his very own stalker to follow him around and find him for surprise check-ups.

Allen hated being in the place. He didn't like the people and them touching him so much all day. It made him feel uncomfortable and insecure. That and there were no windows anywhere in the building. Not to the places he's ever went, anyways. And some of the tests and experiments they did on him were/are almost always unbearably painful. Maybe they did it just to see how much pain any certain paitent could withstand.

He got up, leaving his pile of food only half-finished, and followed Lavi out of the cafeteria to Director Komui's office.


	3. Lies

**-Lies-**

"Then, I'll be taking my leave." Lavi saluted as he closed the door to director Komui Lee's office, leaving Allen trapped on the inside. He obviously wished he was somewhere else. Anywhere other than sitting in the dimly lit room he was currently occupying. Having to do this every morning was irritating and got on his nerves, but he voiced no complaints, yet.

"Thank you for escorting him here, Lavi. You saved us much trouble" Komui sounded relieved as his expression softened into a more exhausted one compared to the one he had to wear all day during meeting and whatnot.

Then the door closed and there was silence.

A strained one.

Allen didn't feel up to talking much that morning, and he defiantly sat on the burgundy colored chair in front of Komui's desk. It was strange, the director's office was the only room in the whole building that contained any furniture and walls and ceiling that had a color other than white or black.

Allen wouldn't say anything while a certain stalker was present.

Howard Link.

Of course, being a stalker is only part of his job. One other is attending all of these "discussions" and recording them.

At the moment he was standing in a corner of the office near the door behind Allen. This was seriously starting to piss him off. Having two shadows was bad enough.

He huffed out a sigh and folded his arms across his chest while looking around the office, feeling the silence press on.

"Allen", Komui said warily "You're not making this easy." He was beyond tired from all the paperwork he'd been stuck with in the office. His expression drooped some. He was in no mood to start another argument on why Allen had to do this everyday.

"Why do I have to keep doing this?" But it started anyways.

"This makes no sense. Why do I have to report what I _dream_? Are my thoughts really that important?" Allen droned. The words sounded like he'd practiced saying them a million times before and had gotten tired of saying it. "I'm tired of doing this already" and his face fell down and he stared at the all-black clothes he wore. _How boring, _he thought.

'Allen, _please_" Komui was actually pleading this time.

_Well now, that's a first._ Allen thought, picking his head up to look at Komui for the first time that day.

"What do I have to do to get you to talk to me?" There it was. That pleading voice again.

"Tell _him_ to get out of here" Allen said, tilting his head up and to the side in the direction of Howard Link behind him.

"Wha-?" Link stuttered "Absolutely not! That is out of the que-"

"Link, please step outside."

"But, director!"

"Just this once, Okay?"

Enraged, Link left the office with as much composure as he possibly could, trying not to slam the door as he closed it..

"Will you talk now?"

"Okay, fine." Allen sighed in resignation. "What do you want to know about?"

Komui almost smiled. It was as if Allen had just made his whole day. This morning was going easier than some of the other ones he had to deal with. He allowed his shoulders to relax a little as he saw that this morning was going to go by a little smoother than Allen had usually allowed.

"The shadow, anything new happen with it?"

"Nothing. The same as always. But..." Allen shifted a little in his seat, frowning, tilting his head to one side, uncertain. Komui noticed these little fidgets and he knew no good news followed.

"Maybe it's just me, but the shadow, it looks like it's gotten darker and closer to my body, like it's more attached to me than before. Sometimes, when I look into any mirror, the air just seems to get so tense all of a sudden, and it's really uncomfortable. I feel like it's suffocating me," he concluded. His eyes trailed off to the mountains of papers that were signed and the ones yet to have been.

"I see..." Komui thought for a while on this, allowing his mind to linger on it just a bit longer.

"What does it mean?" You could almost hear the worry in Allen's voice. His eyes were now focused back on Komui.

He snapped back out of his trance and looked back up into Allen's eyes.

"Nothing, Allen" he said, forcing a small smile but it didn't have much of an effect to ease Allen's worries.

"And what about your dream?"

"It was a normal dream. About something I want to do. That's what a dream is, right?" He had asked so innocently it was almost painful to watch.

"Hmm, is that so? then, what is it that you want to do?"

"I..." Allen started, but again wasn't sure if he should really say it. Then his face lightened up.

"I want to go outside. To leave this place. To break away," he said dreamily while staring at the ceiling. His hands resting folded on his lap. "I want to be able to see the sky and see what the 'sun' is like and lay under the 'moon' and 'stars'" he started to explain carelessly. "I want to be able to get out of here, and finally open those big oak doors that block my way" he said while putting a hand out in the air. "And I want to explore and go a whole bunch of places..." he suddenly snapped back, lowering his hand and looking right at Komui with a wide and honest smile stretching from ear to ear "And I'll go with Lavi! He'll come with me too, and we'll do everything together!" He finally finished, looking absolutely overjoyed. "I'll be able to leave this place once I'm all better, right, Komui?"

"Of course, Allen." Komui forced another smile to his face. "That's it then, you can go now."

"Then, excuse me." Allen said while picking himself up out of the chair he was occupying and heading for the office door, practically skipping with every step he took. Once he opened the door and exited, a very annoyed Link stepped back into office waiting for the report from the meeting he missed out on when he saw Komui holding his head in his hands.

He hesitated. Then, in an almost whisper, said "I'll come back for a report later, then," and stepped back out through the door once more to find Allen once again, closing the door as quietly as he could.

"I'm sorry, Allen. I'm so sorry." Komui whispered to himself, as if drowning in his own despair.

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_**Xeno: PLEASE REVIEW. **I don't know if I'm doing a good job or not if I don't get any feedback, so please help me out. Even one-word reviews are highly appreciated! kthnxbai_


	4. Tests

-**Tests**-

"Allen Walker!!" Link shouted down the hall to a figure that was skipping merrily away from him, but going fast enough that he couldn't catch up.

"Stop this at once!" His temper was really rising. He knew Allen was doing this to see just how much he can make Link angry without getting caught.

"Stop this at once!" Allen mocked, still half skipping, half walking down the hall. He turned a corner and Link sped up in order not to lose him. Of course, _he_ wasn't the one that was going to get lost in here. He stopped at the corner in which Allen had disappeared into, and waited silently. "Too easy," he said, smiling to himself.

***

Allen was still skipping down the corridors, sometimes turning into a different direction, too absorbed into his own thoughts to notice he wasn't being shouted at anymore. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. His third shadow wasn't following him anymore.

_Where's little spotty-two? _He wondered to himself. That's when he looked around at his whereabouts, and started to get a little panicky.

_Or more importantly, where the hell am I?!_ He spun around in a 180 and looked at the place he just came from, or was it? He was standing in the middle of an intersection, corridors going four different ways. He kept on spinning around in circles until he was dizzy and stopped.

Cursing his terrible sense of direction, he randomly picked one way and started walking again. At the end of the corridor he noticed he was back outside the corridors and in the main hallway where he started. _Heh, maybe I'm not that bad after all. _

As he was admiring himself for his good luck, a notebook connected with his head with a _thud_, and he fell to the ground.

His hands on the place he was hit, eye watering, and the occasional whimper sliding from his mouth, he looked up to see what had caused the damage. It was Link, looking slightly pleased with his own cleverness. The smile on his mouth faded into a more business-like expression and he roughly grabbed Allen by his forearm, jerking him up to his feet.

"Ow, Link, you're hurting me!" Allen whimpered in his most hurt voice, closing his eyes and wincing, with tears dangerously close to overflowing. Cheeks with a small tint of red, he opened his eyes and looked Link right in the eye with an almost pleading face practically screaming 'Please, stop!'

Link took a step back, cheeks flushed, his grip loosening a little. This was Allen's best sense of defense. Using his cuteness and innocent face to deceive people. It worked every time, on everyone.

Noticing his chance, Allen pulled his arm from Link's grip and sped down the corridor again, leaving a very confused Link behind. Coming back to his senses, he started running down the same corridor, chasing Allen.

_I knew it wasn't going to be that easy. Damn!_ Cursing himself for being tricked _again_, he tried to at least keep Allen in his sight.

***

"Oh, Kanda! There you are."

Kanda was on his way back to his room to meditate when someone called out his name. He stopped and turned around to face the Science Section Leader Reever. He almost turned around and continued walking, but thought against it. He knew there as only one reason the Science Section would be looking for him.

_More tests _he thought to himself. Reever was now standing next to him and he said in a very casual voice "They want you back down at the Ward. They want to change your bandages and do a check-up and some other things."

"You mean more tests, right?" Kanda said, almost spitting in his face.

Reever, seemingly unfazed by the threat, continued talking as if he didn't hear it in the first place.

"Seeing as you just ran out of there all of a sudden they didn't get the chance to do any of that. They just want to make sure your arm is healing all right."

Then his voice got lower, and he leaned closer to Kanda's ear "I'm sorry, I can't do anything about what they decide to do with you. I don't like them any more than you do. Just bear with it for now, okay?" He patted Kanda on the shoulder, and continued walking past him. "I have to go and see Allen now. Since I saw you, I thought I might as well give you a head's up before _they _come and start chasing you down. They're bound to any second."

Kanda stared at him for a while, before "Che", and he turned in the other direction towards the Ward and away from his room.

***

"Ugh, so hungry." Allen had stopped running a while ago. He was lost, again, and hungry. He lot Link a while back now, too, but the growling of his stomach was bound give his position away.

He was now walking around aimlessly, getting deeper and deeper into the labyrinth that was corridors. He's the type of person to get lost in a straightaway, you see, and it has happened before. Sulking to himself, he didn't even notice the presence of a group of people and he ran into one of them, his face gently pressing against their torso.

"Ah" He said surprised, pulling his head back to get a view of the person's face he just ran into. "Sorry, I wasn't paying...atten...tion...!"

"Oh, Allen Walker. Just the person I was looking for." A sly grin same across the older man's face. He stared down at Allen's shocked expression.

"L-Leverrier" Allen whispered, more to himself than the person in front of him.

"Come now, is that any way to greet me?" Leverrier said, still smiling and staring at the face of the young boy who started to back away from him.

Then, some people behind Leverrier, hooded in black, face covered, stepped out in front of him and grabbed Allen by the wrists and shoulders.

"!"

"Today, we have some _special _tests for you."

His eyes widened even more.

"No..."

As they dragged him down the corridor in the direction in which they just came, visions of cold metal examination tables and black leather restraints flew across his eyes. He could almost feel them pressing against his body again. His fear for the man that was leading the way grew more and more by the second. Every time he saw him things like this always happened. Allen could feel the strength leaving his body with every step he took, but shaking away the visions that were now filling his head, and the screams he remembered coming from his own body filling his mouth was the only thing he could do to remain conscious. He could feel his feet being dragged now. He almost had no energy to stand up as they climbed a flight of stairs to the third level of the building.

This level held the Ward. This included the infirmary and many doors with no labels on them. Just numbers. The second level of the building included the dorms and offices. The first level was the Science Section, cafeteria, auditorium, exercise room, and other trivial things. There was also a fourth level, but he was never allowed up there. None of the patients were, including a few scientists and doctors.

They were now walking down a very long corridor with doors lining each side of the walls. Allen didn't spare a passing glance to them as he kept his eyes locked on Leverrier's back, too afraid to look anywhere else. They stopped in front of a door. It was the very last one at the end of the corridor. Leverrier took out a key and unlocked it. He stepped aside and motioned the black hooded people holding Allen in.

"No, stop! Let me go!" Allen started yelling, suddenly regaining some of his strength. He started trying to wrestle out of the grip of the ones holding him, but it was no use. They had too good of a hold on him. They pulled him into the room as he was still yelling and Leverrier stepped inside behind them. He closed the door behind himself and locked it.

"Now then," He said, turning around to face the room.

"Let us begin."

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_I'm sorry this is a sad story, but this is what I eel like writing!! I hope this chapter is something that lives up to all of your standards. And if it doesn't then tell me!!! **REVIEW!!! **Love giving you a cliff-hanger! ^.^_


	5. The Ones Who See and Do Nothing

-**The Ones Who See and Do Nothing**-

"No, stop! Let me go!" Kanda heard as he entered the Ward. It was coming from the end of a corridor, he could tell. Not necessarily curious, but more annoyed at the fact that someone was yelling, he looked down the hall to find what seemed like a struggle. From the mass, he could make out glimpses of white hair on top of the shortest person's head. He knew he recognized that high-pitched voice from somewhere. There was another one, somebody else he recognized. Of course, how could he forget it?

Malcolm C. Leverrier, the man who was responsible for him being in this hell hole in the first place. The one who had experimented on him just that morning.

His face turned into a scowl as he remembered the events earlier that day.

He watched as the struggle went on for a while, Allen being shoved into the room and Leverrier stepping inside, before turning away. He couldn't do anything anyways, so why bother watching the scene? He heard the door close behind him and an ominous _click_ made its way to his ear signifying the door was now locked. It's not like this is the first time anyways. He'll manage, somehow.

_He always does,_ Kanda thought, but more to convince himself as he felt the guilt pile up in his chest. But _why?_ It's not like he could've helped the bean sprout. No one could go against the order of this place. Anyone who dared to wouldn't live to see tomorrow. So why did he feel this way, just because he looked the other way?

_I'm one of those people,_ he thought again.His mouth turning from a frown to a small grin. He was disgusted with himself, for being one of those people.

_The ones who see and do nothing._

_***_

The struggle that started in the hallway had continued inside of the sound-proof room. All the walls were concrete and the door itself was made of steel.

Hard steel.

It was actually the only room on the third level that had a steel door. This room was for 'mildly special' cases. Allen had been in here a few times. The real 'special' purposes were reserved for the fourth level. He had also been there. Once.

Blind-folded, gassed, and taken up there, yes. But he still knew where he was when he woke up from the narcotics his captors forced him to inhale, showing up in his room all of a sudden and putting a white cloth over his mouth an nose. These were not the memories he wished to be remembering right now. They were making him even more panicked.

After five or eight more minutes more of struggling, Allen was securely strapped down onto the metal examination table. Leather restraints and all. A blinding light was placed above his head, like the ones you see at a dentist office when they examine your teeth.

Allen looked around the all-too familiar room when his eyes had adjusted. Indeed, it was the same. It was cleaner somehow, in it's own way. His eyes wandered upward almost to the ceiling. Above the entrance there is an examination room.

Every room has an examination room. They fit between the third and fourth floor. They aren't really accounted as a real floor because they really aren't.

There were a few people in there, but Allen couldn't make out their faces just yet. Now he moved his attention to the people standing and moving around him. They were setting up strange machines and cutting open his black sweater/shirt. He didn't really know what it was. Another clothed-in-black-weirdo, as Allen likes to call them, was going around and tightening the restraints around his ankles, wrists, and waist. He reached for the one on his left hand and pulled unnecessarily hard in a jerking motion. The leather cut into Allen's skin and he winced as he could feel the blood collecting under the strap.

"Hey! That's-that's way too tight!" Allen tried to yell through his quivering voice, trying to show _some_ courage.

"I apologize for this, Allen" Leverrier said trying to sound sympathetic but sounded just down-right sickening as he stepped into the place the black-clothed man had just vacated to do the same thing to the rest of the restrains. "We cannot risk anymore, _inconveniences_, on your behalf. So the necessary precautions were taken. We're just making sure you can't 'accidentally' get loose and wander off like you supposedly did last time." He's now fingering something that's laying on his hip. Allen's looks over to it and recognizes it as a gun. Leverrier follows his eyes to where he's looking and chuckles lightly.

"Is that another one of your precautions?"

"Indeed, it is. They are not real bullets, not like you know what I'm talking about, but it is filled with tranquilizers. We wouldn't want to hurt our very important _p__atient_." He laughs again as he steps backwards into the shadows. The restraints are now so tight Allen could feel his circulation being cut off to some parts of his body. Even his hips felt like they were going numb and the strap around it hasn't even been adjusted yet. The same person that been tightening all the others now came up to his waist and reached for the leather that now touched Allen's bare skin with his shirt removed. It was tightened, and Allen felt like he couldn't breath anymore. The sweat that was forming on his forehead now fell back and into his hair, some rolling down and into his ears making it uncomfortable to just lay there and do nothing about it.

He could now see the people in the examination room. It was Reever, Komui, and some other scientists that were busying themselves with monitors and such. Seeing Reever and Komui there was no surprise. They were always there for something like this. Then it must have been something important. Not just a normal examination.

But there was another, a hooded figure. But this one was not like the others. A little smaller, slimmer, and...covered in white. _White? Then, he's not with the others? _Allen questioned himself, inspecting the black-hooded ones around him, now hooking him up to the weird machines placed around the table he was on and sticking a needle in his right arm to connect him to an IV bag with a clear liquid inside.

These figures were quite fat on purpose and also large in height, but having a human quality to them all at the same time.

The person in the examination room, however, looked beautiful in Allen's eyes. _Like an angel, _he thought. _An angel that's lost its wings._

_***_

"Have the preparations been completed?" Reever asked aloud to the other scientists in the room.

"Sir, they're almost done," one of them speaks up.

"Tell me when they are."

"Sir!"

Reever looks over to his side to take a glance at Komui. He's standing very still, quite unusual for the man. His faces holds but the tiniest trace of discomfort and worry. He's been trying to hide it ever since they entered the room, trying to keep a calm, blank, and unreadable expression. He must have just let this moment slip by while being engrossed in his own thoughts.

"Komui," Reever speaks in a loud whisper. This is enough to snap Komui out of his trance. He looks over to his companion and gave a half-assed attempt at a smile, or so Reever puts it.

"Sorry, I must have spaced out."

"He'll be fine. This test shouldn't even hurt him." Reever tried to sound reassuring, but Komui turned back to the large window to look down upon the said boy, frown reappearing on his face.

"Yes, you're right, but-"

"It will scare the crap out of him," a voice from the the back of the room calls out loudly.

Two or three of the scientists look up from their work, but only momentarily. The voice came from a man with short blonde hair wearing a weird vest, and a weird hat that oddly resembled Komui's beret...

"Bak-Chan..." Komui whispers to himself.

"What're you doing here?" Reever questions, staring oddly at the foreign(?) man.

"Just came to see my friends, of course! I can't do that anymore?" Bak jokes, but then getting more serious, "but then again it's not like I had much of a choice, either." His voice sounds irritated as he strides to the middle of the room, just out of view of the people down below in the other room. Komui and Reever turn to face him.

"What do you mean by that?" Komui asks, now a little more interested.

"That Leverrier guy dragged me here with him. Told me to come and watch something 'interesting'. He finds quite a lot of pleasure from other people's pain," he implied quite matter-of-factly. "Actually, I don't know exactly what they're going to do Allen. Leverrier said 'it won't hurt, but it will put quite a scare into the boy.' Care to elaborate, Reever?" Bak directs at him.

"We're going to be looking at his left arm" Reever began, "there are a few more things we want to know about it and how it got that way-"

"Weren't _you_ the ones who did that to him?" Bak butted in. Komui's eyes narrowed, staring unblinkingly at the man accusing Reever of doing such a thing.

"And I hear he was in a lot of pain. Quite the experience now, wasn't it? He practically destroyed the room he was in, throwing a tantrum and whatnot. Breaking from his restraints, and then was put into a solitary confinement cell used for the mentally unstable for a whole month. And a straight jacket? Was that even necessary? The trauma he must have gained from going through something like that, I can only imagine the state his mind must have been in." Bak's eyes were now almost slits in his face as he stared disgusted at the two men in front of him, arms crossed over his chest.

"Bak-Chan!" Komui gasped. He was taken aback. To be accused for such a thing was unthinkable. However, he did actually blame himself for everything that had happened to Allen that time. It was his fault wasn't it?

Surprised by his own words, Bak snaps out of his trance and uncrosses his arms, opening his eyes to their normal size. "Oh...! What am I saying? Sorry, I didn't mean to say that to you. I mean, I'm not blaming you guys for it, I was directing that at Leverrier. That man, he makes me sick!" He hisses that last line, more like a whisper to himself. He doesn't want someone to hear him, should in case they tell the inspector(Leverrier). The trouble he would get in...

Reever was quite stunned by Bak's sudden change in mood, but continued on with his explanation "Ahem, anyways. We're going to be examining his arm again. The clear liquid is actually a special type of antibiotics we have made just for Allen. We can't disclose just what is inside it to anyone outside of the Science department. Not even Komui knows what it is," He points a thumb in their Branch Head's direction. "But it will help in the process and it will also calm Allen down. As you have already heard, this is a pretty scary operation."

"Just what exactly is it that you are going to do?" Bak asks now a little impatiently.

"I can't go into details of the process and how we really do it, but we are going to insert something into his arm to look inside of it. Once we know what we're dealing with, then the real operation can begin, hopefully today. That's going to be the scary part. We will also monitor his brain activity while the test is occurring, along with his heart and the rest of his body," he wrapped up his explanation just as one of the scientists inform him that they are now ready to continue with the operation.

Reever and Komui turn back to the large glass window and look down to the table again. Allen wasn't struggling anymore, but he didn't seem too calm. Reever gave the signal to start and the doctors and black-hooded figures began to close in on the table that held up the body that was now their new 'subject'.

The figure in white just stood watching, examining, and listening to everything.

Unchanging.

Unmoving.

And unfazed by the raised voices that occurred sometimes. It just stood there silently observing its surrounding and the events occurring, face hidden. It was a bystander in all of this, and that's how it's supposed to stay.

***

Allen was now surrounded by the people that were rustling around the room just a few seconds ago. He was now hooked up to the machinery that bordered the table he was laying on. Wires running from them to his head and chest with these suction cup things at the end to stick to his skin. He wasn't going to lie- actually, he couldn't, he doesn't know how to,- but he felt even more squeamish with all these things attached to him.

It was uncomfortable.

One man reached out a hand with a cotton ball and disinfected and area of skin Allen guessed they would use to inject him with some thing or another, and guessed right. another doctor pulled a syringe from seemed lie nowhere. He injected Allen with something, he didn't know what, but almost immediately Allen's whole arm starts to feel strange at the injection site. The sensation starts spreading down to his fingertips and up his arm to his shoulder and stops right where the red ends and the pale beige begins. It wasn't a numbing feeling, it was like something you would feel if something was crawling around on the wrong side of your skin.

"What are you doing?" Allen said weakly. A doctor of random answers him in a woman's voice,

"We have put something inside you to make it easier for us to continue with our test."

"What is it?"

"We cannot say."

"Will it hurt later?"

"It depends on how your body reacts to it."

"What test are you going to do?" Another doctor answers him now, in a man's voice,

"For now, we're just going to examine your arm," then after a moment's pause added "from the inside."

"What?! Y-You're going to cut me open?!"

"No, of course not," Leverrier interposes.

_He's still here?_

"This test will be a little bit different. See, we've already put what we've needed inside of you," he said knowingly. "Now, all you have to do is lay still," he concluded, smiling that fake smile that made Allen feel uncomfortable.

No.

Uncomfortable?

_That's not right... _Allen didn't know what this new feeling was. It was deeper than uncomfortable. _It there a word for this feeling?_

Moments passed and Allen became even more fidgety with every minute passing. He's already been told multiple times to stay still by the other people in the room. It was his left arm that was the source of it. The feeling he got when he got the injection hadn't gone away or even started to fade the slightest.

"Is my arm supposed to feel this way?" Allen asked a doctor that was standing on the left side of him.

"How so?" The doctor responded, not quite sure what he means.

"It still feels funny from when I got the shot"

"It shouldn't..." The doctor muttered to himself, frowning. He bustled over to a machine and started to check something on it, jotting down hasty notes on his clipboard and mumbling to himself even more.

"This is the first time we have used something like this, and the first time we have used it on you. How you react to this and the side effects that will come of it are completely unknown." Leverrier had started speaking again. "What he had predicted would happen was for this 'feeling' to go away moments after you being injected, but as I have already stated, this has never been tested before now, and one more reason to do this test was to see what comes of it."

_Great, that just makes me feel SO much better, _Allen thought as he turned away From Leverrier to watch what the other people in the room were doing from his vantage point. However, he didn't understand what any of them _were_ doing and couldn't follow any of their movements and soon gave up on it and decided to just close his eyes. He couldn't look up and stare at the ceiling because there was a light right above his head ready to burn his eyes out.

And then it hit him.

Allen's eyes jerked open and he started screaming in pain. Everyone in the room and the examination room above simultaneously stopped amid their movements and all eyes turned to the table where the young boy was thrashing in his restraints.

Then, all at once the people in the same room as him dashed over to the table to try to figure out what was wrong, but they couldn't get a straight answer from Allen.

"It hurts, it hurts!" Was all he could say at the moment. The only thing he could see was the blaring white light just a few feet above his head, and his state of panic rose.

The doctors started to split up from the table and raced over to the machines connected to Allen to check what his condition was.

Everything was fine.

But Allen's condition worsened. His eyes became blurry and clouded. He was losing consciousness fast and his arm was searing with even more pain.

***

"How are his vitals?!"

"They're all stable, sir!"

"What about brain function?!"

"It's completely normal, sir!"

"Nothing out of the ordinary?!"

"Nothing, sir!"

"Check everything again, make sure you got this right! We can't afford any mistakes here right now!"

"Yes, sir!" All the scientists in the examination room echoed at once.

Bak-Chan was standing in the middle of the room, eyes darting from one screen to another and yelling out orders. Even though it wasn't his department, he was still a Branch Head and still held some authority over things.

"What's going on?" Komui whispered to himself.

"We don't know. We never expected him to react this way to just the injection and nothing is showing up on any of the readings we're getting back from him. We're in the dark about this just about as far as we can go." Reever responded to Komui's rhetorical question. He wasn't actually expecting anyone to answer him. He was staring down at the table watching Allen fight again his restraints, the blood trickling down his wrists and being flung into the air. It wasn't a sight to behold, mind you. It was, painful.

***

Still fighting the restraints and screaming in pain, Allen got noticeably weaker. His voice became hoarse and wasn't thrashing around as much, but the pain still hurt the same, if not more. The doctors were standing around Allen's right side and the black-hooded figures stood around his left. They were examining his arm, and every time they so much as touched it, the pain got even worse.

It looked as though something was moving all over on the inside of his arm, trying to break the skin barrier that closed whatever it was in from the outside world.

It looked like had succeeded, though.

All at once, Allen's arm tore open in multiple places from the tips of his fingers to where the pale white of his skin and the dark blood red of his arm began. It was like something exploded from the inside and started to slowly ooze its way out. They looked like slits in his arm. Huge, deep wounds. He took and inward gasp, then fell silent. His head lolled over to one side, and his eyes slowly closed on themselves.

"Looks like," Reever said, sighing, "We won't be doing the next step to this experiment."


	6. The Secret of Our Own Past

**The Secret of Our Own Pasts**

"There, that should do it," Shifu announced sounding pleased. He had just finished putting on fresh new bandages over Kanda's left arm. "This should be good for the rest of the day. Come back at eight tonight so I can change them again, and in the morning right after breakfast."

"Che."

"You still won't be able to use your left arm for another two days, and that's with your healing abilities, so please take it easy for the little time you have to."

"Don't tell me what to do," Kanda grumbled as he stood up from his chair and started to put back on his shirt.

"In a foul mood today, then?"

"Che."

"Don't get into trouble. I don't want to see you in here because you decided to do something drastic involving the higher-ups" Shifu warned.

"Whatever."

"And don't overexert yourself while training. Remember, your energy is mostly being used right now to heal your arm in as little time as possible, so anything extra and you'll be on strict bed rest for days. You'll have to eat more than usual now, too, so no skipping meals and snacks in between."

"I know, just get off my back already!" Kanda half-yelled trying to keep his voice under control. He wasn't even mad at Shifu. He was just angry that he had to be there in the first place.

He made his way over to the examination room door and went to open it when Shifu called out to him again.

"Kanda."

"...What?" he said, turning half-way around. He was almost surprised by what he saw. Almost. Shifu was staring at him worriedly.

"Please, just try to be careful."

Kanda hesitated on the door handle but a moment. Then he turned back around and opened it. Taking one step outside he whispered a "yeah" in Shifu's direction and started walking down the hallway.

"I'll see you back here at eight! Don't forget!" Shifu called from the doorway in Kanda's general direction.

"I got it, just stop nagging me already!" his tone a bit more warm and playful now, at least, as playful as Kanda got.

It was really like Shifu was family now, ever since Kanda arrived at this godforsaken place he's been saving Kanda's ass from the worst of situations. He owes Shifu with his life almost. It was like he was that annoying little brother who always made sure the elder one took take of himself when he neglected to do so. He was just like-

But his thoughts were cut off by himself. No more would he think of them, his previous family.

_Just more painful memories. _He shook his head as if to rid it of the thoughts previously, but the actions were futile. He didn't want to remember them, but he couldn't just forget them, he wouldn't dare do a thing like that. His hand had subconsciously moved to the tie in his long flowing hair. It had been a gift from one of them on his birthday, the day they made up for him because he would never tell them his real birthday. He can't even remember if he knew his own. It was now the only thing he had left in the whole world to remember any of them by. That day, that fake birthday, it was the same day when-

Enough.

Kanda didn't want to think about it anymore, and started searching his mind for a distraction, his hand falling down to his side once more. Taking quick long strides, he exited the Ward and was practically leaping down the flights of steps heading for the training room. It was the best way to keep his mind occupied.

***

The screams had already subsided within the soundproof room. Everyone was just standing still and looking on at what the black-cloaked people were busying themselves with. They were collecting the black ooze that had literally exploded from Allen's arm. It was going to be later tested, but this was also part of cleaning out his wounds so he could be bandaged up and taken to a private monitoring room in the Ward. It was fairly obvious that no more testing was going to occur. Now it was more of paperwork and brainstorming that was going to occupy the rest of the scientists day. Komui, Reever, and Bak-Chan were standing still next to the glass window along with most of the other scientists in relative silence, save for the humming and buzzing of the machines along with mumbles from the small crowd of people. The figure in white stood stiller than the rest, like the whole time he had been there. Unchanging, unmoving. Just sweeping over the situation with unseen eyes. Why were they there in the first place?

Good question.

Why_ were_ they there? Who was it? And what purpose did they have? Being there like that.

The others paid them no mind, however. They were used to it being there all the time that they had forgotten it was even there. The ones gathered in the room continued to stare at the examination table down below. Some scientists still busied themselves with the machines and continued to scribble down notes on their clipboards and reports to be later submitted to the director to be looked over.

After the moments passed the black-cloaked figures finished up their work and began bandaging up the still unconscious figure that was Allen's .

Reever sighed from exhaustion and turned away from the glass to face Komui.

"What do you think of this?

Komui remained silent for a few seconds, as if contemplating something. Then, he finally answered "I think I speak for everyone when I say no one could have expected for this to happen. After just the antibiotics? I never thought anything could go_ wrong_ with something like that. It was mainly designed to just help the body cope under these circumstances, but…" he paused, turning more serious and the frown on his face deepening. He turned his head to face Reever and continued "after such a violent reaction, if this continues, if anymore failures occur, Reever, I'm not sure we'll be able to continue this research."

It took a few seconds for it to register in Reever's mind what Komui was saying.

"No!" he cried out, making everyone in the room turn to face him. Bak, who was standing to the side silently following the flow of the conversation between the two now turned to stare at the scene unfolding in front of him.

"Reever, your voice!" Komui hissed at him but it didn't make a difference.

"He can't do that!"

Giving up on quieting him down, Komui decided to just try to talk to him "Yes, he can" he replied gravely, yet firm in his word.

"No!" Reever refused to accept it "This can't be allowed! He doesn't have control over human lives like that! Since when did he get the power to choose who gets to live and who dies?!" This was the first time anyone had ever seen Reever act this way. So enraged and no control over his emotions. His voice sounded frantic, as if getting his point across faster would be able to save somebody's life.

"Komui, what's Reever talking about?" Bak asked cautiously to an outspoken Komui. He turned to Bak, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger and adjusting the papers he held in his arms. He was still addressing Reever, however when he said "I know how you feel about this Reever. We share the same feelings, but this time, there really is _nothing_ you can do about it. Once he speaks, that's it. It's final. His word is absolute." This shocked Reever into silence, and already the scientists had continued on with their work, either with the machines or with observing Allen. The white figure, who had turned to face the commotion at some unspoken time, turned back to also observe Allen down below.

"Hey, Komui! What's this about? Who's_ he_?" Bak asked louder and a little fiercer now.

"Damn it!" Reever yelled once more, coming back to his senses. He rushed past Komui and Bak and stormed out of the room, slamming the door as he went.

"I guess I should explain this to you, then" Komui sighed as he looked up into Bak's eyes. It was the most serious look Bak had ever seen Komui give to anybody in any situation, yet he couldn't hide the agitation hidden in his face.

"I'll try to be brief about it. In order to begin our research, as you already know, we needed the government's permission and financial support. However, we couldn't get word past the gates of the building. We turned to an inside source we knew that had great influence and we were able to get our papers. However, that 'inside source' became highly interested in our research, and with the power the he held, became our supervisor, and if he deems the research to be a waste of time, he has all rights to call it all off and terminate it for good. These were the conditions under which we had to follow to begin our research. Given to us by our supervisor, of course ."

Bak hesitated for a moment. What was so bad about that for Reever to act the way he did? Sensing Bak's confusion, Komui continued explaining.

"If the research is called off and the program shut down, then all traces of it will have to be exterminated and destroyed. "

As it didn't quite seem to have sunken into Bak's head just what Komui was hinting at, he elaborated even more.

"Including the patients."

Finally, it clicked. Bak's reaction was similar to Reever's without the outburst. Instead, he started to pale and shake slightly, and when he spoke, he tumbled over his own words.

"Th-then, this man, supervisor, is-?"

"Malcolm C. Leverrier."

"What?!"

"This has happened before," Komui continued as if he hadn't yelled out. "We were on the brink of being shut down, until we found Allen. He peaked Leverrier's interest once more and he decided to keep us open. I do feel terrible for throwing this poor child right into his hands, but it was the only way to save to the others."

"You can't be serious…!" Bak whispered in disbelief. Komui just shook his head.

"I wish it were all pretend, too. I really don't want to believe we are still here because of Allen's sake. It's like hanging by a thread with scissors in the hands of the enemy. With it like this, Leverrier can do whatever he wants to Allen, any type of experiment at all, and get away with it. Those were the conditions if we were to _stay_ open. We can't say a word about it or we're gone. Now, it's just a matter of time until Allen's body can't take it anymore and shuts down on himself. When that happens… Well, you know the rest."

The two of them stood there in silence or a little while, lost in their own thoughts. Below Allen had already been unstrapped from the leather restraints and carried out of the room. The white figure glided its way across the room and exited through the door, disappearing behind it.

This took forever and way too long, plus one! Most of the time, I wasn't even writing! I'm SO sorry it's so short! I'll update another chapter tomorrow! And if I can't, well, I'm not going to make any promises if I don't. .

-Xenophili


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